The Wheels On The...Oh, Stop

Hello! So it's noon and Angela and I barely woke up...I'll tell you why.

Yesterday, I get a call from Talia (an exchange student from New Mexico) saying that one of the other American girls is having a birthday party and that they'd like for us to be there. Seeing that Angela and I have missed every other opportunity to shake our groove thang this week, we hop on the party bus.

Amanda (birthday girl) wanted a dessert kind of theme, so EVERYONE baked up some awesome stuff. A couple of the American girls here are Vegan/Vegetarian...so all the desserts were vegan (they were scrumdidlyumptious!).

It just so happened to be Amanda's 21st birthday. And they kept saying they wanted to celebrate it "American style" (which, really, Scottish people can outdrink us by like...a lot). So they start popping open some bubbly (literally, popping), and we get a little bit of our sip on.

It's 11:00, and all the girls really wanted to go dancing at this club called "Hive" (All the girls + me). Sweet, so while we're walking we start talking to these two new faces we saw at the party. A 6 foot 7 guy (that looks like a Scottish Edward Cullen) named Dave, and a 6 foot 3 guy named Ben. Dave is Scottish, but has spent so much time in America that his accent is a little...different. And Ben is the coolest, rawest, funniest Canadian I've ever met. Actually, he's the only Canadian I've ever met.

Man...I'm just gonna go out there and say it...we hit it off. We had a bromance if I ever saw one. These guys are the beezneez.

So we finally get to the club, only to find out that some DJ is playing tonight and there's a big 'ol cover charge. So Ben and Dave take us to these really, really cool place called "The Three Sisters". And I have no other way of saying this other than...we all got a little...you know...happy :-)

Just a few highlights:

-Tequila shots

-Dave pounded fists with Obama (he really did)

-Amanda's boyfriend and I almost punched some big German guys

-Waldo-ing pictures

-Dancing to some old school American songs (especially Jackson 5)

-"I'm so happy, I'm so happy. THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE!"

-Alex (our friend that's Russian, but is from Germany) is a ladies man

-Rounds

-Some bathroom befriending...that doesn't sound right

-laughs upon laughs upon laughs upon giggles upon laughs

As if all the fun wasn't enough for Ben and Dave, they invite everyone back to their place for some more drinks and smiles. It's about 1 in the morning. These guys party like there's no tomorrow.

So after stopping by this little Kebab shop and getting some mmmmeeeeaaaaannnn lamb and chicken doners (it was happiness in my mouth), we head up to the guys' flat. And boy oh boy, was that a party. Let me give you some highlights...

-Shots of this NASTY licorice liquor stuff...it wasn't Uzo

-Dancing...or trying to at this point

-Singing old school songs at the top of our lungs

-A little bit of the game "Never have I ever", and let me tell you...I've never played this game before, and quite honestly, I still don't get it.

-Some good 'ol Truth or Dare

-People spinning the bottle (or remote control) and kissin'

-Trying to play the guitar...and failing

-I stripped down to my boxers and Angela wheel-barreled me around the flat

-Alex got NAKED and was allowed only a small Kebab to-go box :-)

-Baileys Irish Cream

-Lap dances...from guys

-Shirtless sit ups

-Dave had never played Truth or dare before and so the entire time all you hear is "I love this game! This game is the best!" haha

-Angry, angry neighbors

-Body shots

Angela and I made our way home at 4 in the morning. I haven't stayed out that late since I was a little youngin' in high school. Now I'm this old man. And I'm feeling the oldness this morning. I promise, the party sounds like a big 'ol nasty orgy, but it really wasn't that bad. lol actually it was pretty pg-13 rated. The only nudity was Alex's Russian/German ass. It was such a good night...the best night probably since we've been here.

So yeah, that was Amanda's birthday night. Happy Birthday Amanda. And just to ease the craving of you video hungry people back home...this is just a small taste of what it's like to drive around the city. Just take what you see...and multiply it by no less than a million, and THAT'S what it's really like. I hope you enjoy it. The song to, because I arranged/composed it :-) We love you all and miss you and even though we're having a really great time over here...we're REALLY looking forward to coming home and partying with all of you. Yes, even you moms and pops. Cheers!

Again, if you'd like to view the entire video:

http://www.youtube.com/user/DanielJames661

Remember, Bee yourself

Hey Guys!

I know it's been a little while since I last wrote. Truth is, all the stress and worries and horrible feelings are all gone for the most part now. Therefore, no more creative inspiration or flow. Everything is going great on this end of the world though...can't really complain.

We went to the zoo this past Saturday, and man it was awesome. I took 35 minutes worth of video! But I didn't want you all to watch a really bad episode of National Geographic so I shortened it to about 4. We really hope you like it...it's a beautiful, beautiful zoo.

Cheers!

P.S. The video is a wee bit bigger than the blog window. So, if you'd like to view the whole video, you can see it at my YouTube page:

http://www.youtube.com/user/DanielJames661

Flat, Sweet Flat

Wednesday September 16

Exactly a week ago we were above the clouds flying over the Atlantic Ocean. It’s crazy to think that already a week has gone by in our journey. So much has happened just in these past three days, I’ll try to fill you in.

I’m trying to think if anything exciting has happened to us…

Anything wonderful or awesome…

Something really worth mentioning…

…Really racking my brain here…

oh yeah…

WE FOUND A FLAT!!!! WE HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE!!!!!!

I’m so happy I could wrestle a wildebeest. I’ll tell you the whole story. On Saturday Angela and I were on the World Wide Web for a little while searching for flats. Our #1 mistake we made, both in the states and Thursday and Friday, is that when we were searching for flats we searched all properties (even ones that were put on the market who knows when). Since all the ones we enquired about had been rented, we figured we’d try only enquiring to flats that were placed on the market in the last week. Sweet. We got a solid list of six flats; all reasonably priced and placed within the area.

Monday rolls around, and Angela and I hound these property managements like crazy people. We got a hold of all flats but one, which was at the bottom of the list anyway. We’re able to set up appointments within the next two days (two on Monday afternoon, three on Tuesday). Happiness.

So, we skip school and take a little stroll on to our first viewing. We arrive. It’s on okay neighborhood. Not too noisy. The windows look pretty dirty and so does the building. Another hopeful guy was already waiting outside to view it too. He was a really quiet guy, timid, but you could tell he needed a place bad. It’s those quiet ones you need to watch out for.

We’re chatting for a little bit, nothing big. All of a sudden a taller, hairier man with glasses comes strutting (like he means business) to where we’re standing.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” He says as he throws his hands down. “I just walked all the way from here,” pointing at his little map, “and arrive only to find out that I’m in competition with THREE other people?! This is absolutely ridiculous, don’t you think?”

He turns to me. I’m honestly afraid. I don’t want to answer the question because I think he’d punch me if I said the wrong answer. So, me being Dan The Almighty Brave Warrior…

“Yeah…it’s pretty crazy man.” With my head to the ground. Haha wuss.

He stops and looks. “You’re American? Are you a student?”

“Ye…” He interrupts.

“That’s interesting, me too. I’m from Greece myself. Let me tell you, it’s easy to find a place in Greece. You show up, tell the owner you’d like to live there, and they say ‘cool’ and let you right in. It’s nothing like this pla…”

Blah Blah. The guy talked so much and I think us three just pretended to listen to him because we were afraid to offend him. We couldn’t get a single word in there. He looked like a Greek John Lennon.

The PM (Property Manager) finally comes and lets us in. Not too happy. The kitchen was really small and a tight space, I felt claustrophobic. The shower had mold on the bottom of it. The off-white paint on the walls was falling off. The carpet was dark red and looked like it was ancient and never cleaned. In all, the place was worth what it cost. It was the cheapest property on our list. We give the PM a smile and a handshake and head on our way.

We go straight to the next flat. The most expensive property on our list. After that “unpleasant” experience Angela turns to me and says, “Look, we’ve only got four more on the list. I know this place is pushing our expenses, but if we really like it and can move into it this week, let’s go for it. We can’t afford to sit on a really good one if we find it.”

My babe is so smart. Sheesh. She has saved my life twice since we’ve been here did I tell you that? I still don’t understand which way the cars are coming so I kinda just cross the streets sometimes. She has actually performed the all-theatrical tug-on-the-left-arm technique you see in movies. Afterwards, I turn to her, batter my eyes, and we fall in love and live happily ever after.

Anyways, that’s beside the point.

Arriving to our next flat, we see THREE other people standing outside. I almost feel like acting like a maniac and kicking and screaming so that I can scare them away. Ha but Angela and I just have faith in what the good Lord wants for us.

Chris, the PM, shows up. Really nice, well dressed, good looking guy with a lot of charisma…Mr. Lady’s Man. He opens the door to the flat…and…

Que the choir…

HALLELUJA! HALLELUJA! HALLELUJA! HALLELUJA! HALLELUJA!

It was absolutely beautiful. When Angela and I were at home and imagining what our flat would look like, it looked exactly like this. We turn to each other, “This is it” was barely whisper out of our mouths. We practically run over to Chris and tell him we’re interested and get all the details.

“That’s great! I’m glad you’re both happy with it. I understand you two are students and need a place pretty badly. If it were up to me I’d give it to you. I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you stop by the office right now, pay the holding fee (to take the flat off the market), and I’ll have a word with the landlord and try to get you guys in.”

“Chris…that sounds great man we’ll do that right away. Thank you so much. Just real quick…where’s the office and when can we move in if we get it?”

He looks as excited as we do. “The office is about a minute away from the Meadows (a really big park that was quite-a-ways from where we were), and you can move in as soon as next Monday.”

Monday? Oh no…that sucks. This means we’ll have to extend our stay at this temporary place and who knows how much money that’ll be. I think we knew it’d be worth it though.

“Oh dang the Meadows are pretty far, I don’t think we’ll be able to make it to the office before five…is there anything else we can do?” We sounded a little desperate, I’m sure.

“Em, yeah. You can go to and Bank of Scotland, give them this account number, place £400 pounds into that account, and you should be set.”

Angela and I roadrunner out of there like there’s no tomorrow.

Unfortunately, my left foot has been bothering the heck out of me since Sunday. Angela took a look at it yesterday and noticed the top of my foot was a little swollen. “You definitely strained something…does this hurt?” She pulls and pushes my toes. “YEP!” She laughs, “Yeah, you strained something alright.”

Of course, on Monday I didn’t know it was strained. So we’re speed walking and looking for a Bank of Scotland and burning cals at the same time. We’re passing street by street, and business by business and no dice. My foot is killing me and I want to amputate it. We pass a clock…4:50. Ten minutes! She starts walking faster, leaving me behind because I’m really hurting. I can see her in the distance, but she’s too far to hear me. Casually, I turn to my left to see what I can see, and what do my eyes behold? A Bank of Scotland. Angela must have been walking so fast she walked right past it. Funny how God works in mysterious ways. I’ve He hadn’t put me in excruciating pain, we would’ve completely missed it. Thanks God.

We walk in with literally a minute to spare, pay the fee, and BAM…we’re golden. The flat is officially off the market, and on our way to be ours.

The next day Chris would call us and tell us the good news. We were approved for the flat, it was ours. I was so happy I could’ve kissed him. He gave us all the details and told us he was able to speed up the move in date, since he knew our situation. We’d be moving in this Friday now. Perfect.

These past three days couldn’t have been better.

We had our first class, which we’re really looking forward to. They’re going to take us on three field trips (Edinburgh Castle, a whisky distillery, and a few other places). Also, on Tuesday we met up with these two girls (one from El Paso, the other from Las Cruces) and had some mean sushi. It was delightful, superb, and exquisite and so was the company. Things are really looking up for us and we thank God because we can feel him guiding us. We’d definitely be lost without Him.

Cheers,

Angela and Dan

A Taste of Home…Sort of

Sunday September 13

We wake up Sunday morning to Ross knocking at our door. It was our last continental breakfast at the B&B, and dang it was good.

Downstairs we can hear Lorna trying to get the kids dressed and motivated for Sunday school and Mass. Poor lady. I don’t think she remembers that nobody wants to go to church when they’re five! She would eventually lose the battle, give them their outdoor boots, and send them off to the neighbors. The house next door had a big backyard with an in-ground trampoline surrounded by mattresses. A childs dream.

Lorna calls a cab for us and is downstairs watching us bring our luggage.

“So here’s what you all will do. The cab will take you to Springwell street and the address is number 10. When you get there, walk up to the door and on your right will be the ringer, and on your left will be a safe box. The keys to your room and that door will be inside. Punch in the code 3524 and it should work. The best of luck to you both and we’ll be in touch soon! Take care. Cheers!”

She ended up being one of the most giving and caring persons that we have yet to come across. That just goes to show you…don’t judge a book by its cover. Especially if it’s ten at night and that book has three wee tykes and a business to run.

So I didn’t want to tell you about the whole day. It wasn’t too exciting at all. We just walked around a bit, saw a movie that could possibly be in the running for the worst movie ever made, ate ice cream, etc…

But what I did want to share with you is our little experience at City Centre.

Since we live in a different part of town now, this area is a lot closer to City Centre. Before we left the flat, we asked Lorna if this temporary flat had Internet.

“No, unfortunately it doesn’t I’m sorry. You could try bumming some wife off an unprotected network in the building though. Or maybe you could just use your dongle.”

Angela and I look at each other. We smirk as if she just said a nasty word.

“You know what a dongle is right?”

“No…we have no idea what that is…” We reply. At this point I’m kind of smiling because this word is reminding me of the word dingle (berry) and I can’t help myself. I know, I’m immature.

It turns out to be just another word for a Wireless Internet USB plug-in. Apparently, they’re very popular in the UK since they provide better and faster service. Maybe I just never really noticed, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone use one in El Paso. Who knows, you learn something new everyday.

We’re walking down Princes Street in search of a dongle and in the corner of my eye I see the color yellow. I turn my head to reveal the entire object that is made up of such a bright color, and there it is. In plain view. Bright as the sun. Calling my name. A Corona canopy.

I stop in my tracks. “Babe…look!”

She does. “Oh, are you hungry already?” She says.

“I sure am.” I tell her. I was just hungry for a taste of home, even if it did come in a bottle.

We walk closer and the picture becomes clearer. This isn’t just any restaurant that serves Coronas. It’s a Mexican restaurant. “Real, Authentic Mexican food” is the advertisement. I turn to her like a little puppy that just saw a bag of kibbles and bits.

“Oh okay, let’s try it.” She smiles.

Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.

We sit down and a nice little Scottish woman hands us some menus. It felt like I was holding a winning lottery ticket in my hand. And boy was I ready to cash in for some enchiladas. I see they serve Dos X! And offer it in a michelada!!!!!!!! I cried a little inside. I turn the page to the entrees. The feeling I got was probably what those guys felt when they realized they were reading the Rosetta Stone. Even better than enchiladas, the Mexican stack! Beans, rice, cheese, shredded beef, salsa, onions, tomatoes, all wrapped in corn tortillas with melted cheese on top and a salad on the side. I’m six years old and it’s Christmas morning.

So I order Mexican stack with the Dos X michelada and Angela orders the fajitas and a water (alcohol doesn’t appeal to her like it does to me, which is probably a really good thing). While we’re sitting, waiting underneath the surprisingly sunny Scottish sky, we’re talking about home and the things we’ve been missing. Our family and friends are at the top of the list of course, but just below are the many aspects of our Hispanic culture…the food, the language, the faces, the places, and so on. Lost in our state of reminiscence we began to notice just how much we appreciated home. Distance truly does make the heart grow fonder.

So, in the fashion that an alarm jolts you from your sleep, the sight of our waitress catches our attention…and well…we didn’t know what to think.

Our food comes before us and it just…well…didn’t really look too Mexican. Nor smell it.

First of all, back home a michelada consists of a beer glass, salt on the rim, limejuice, and ice. In Edinburgh, the salt and lime were there, but the glass was this thin, tall, cocktail looking thing and there was no ice!! Nevertheless, it was still pretty tasty. The Mexican stack however…was more like a Taco Bell stack. The rice was white, not Mexican; the salsa tasted just like Taco Bells mild sauce; the beef was ground, not shredded; to be honest, it tasted more like lasagna. Our dreams of eating authentic Mexican food were shattered.

Stomach: satisfied.

Taste Buds: dissatisfied.

Tear Ducts: flowing.

Even after our Taco Bell experience though, Angela and I walked back to our flat with our head held high. It wasn’t a total disaster because for at least a few minutes, we were back home. Our memories of the scents, tastes, and sensations of REAL Mexican food are far more pleasing than anything else we’ll get over here. So if anyone from home reads this…PLEASE, please have a REAL enchilada and michelada for us! Because it doesn’t look like we’ll have the pleasure anytime soon.

Tear Ducts: Niagra Falls.

Third Times A Charm

September 12, 2009

All my life I’ve heard the saying “Third time’s a charm”. And all my life it’s been like a fifty-fifty chance that it’ll be true. Well, in this instance, our third day in Edinburgh has been the most charming of all!

It’s six in the morning and our eyes slowly break open. Sleeping for so long is such an addictive drug. Our stomachs are playing Beethoven’s 5^th and we come to an absolutely horrible realization.

When I booked the B&B online, it gave me the option to choose a continental breakfast. Sweet so I go for it. £5 a person (somewhere in between $8 and $10). Must be good.

When we arrived at the B&B the first thing that Timy told us was “Make sure you fill out the breakfast form. Circle what you’d like and the quantity and place it right here on this piano. Put it out before you go to bed, not in the morning.”

Well, somewhere in between foot massage ecstasy and the 6 o clock Scottish sunrise, we forgot the breakfast form. So, grumpy as hell, Angela and I set out on a bacon and eggs excavation.

Making our way down Colinton road, our eyes catch a glimpse of something familiar. Starbucks. I don’t know if you’ve ever had Starbucks’ Perfect Oatmeal…but it’s heaven in your mouth.

We practically prance on inside, come up to the counter, and say to the barista “We’ll have 2 Caramel Macchiatos and 2 Perfect Oatmeals please.”

“2 perfect whats?” He says to us with a raised brow.

We look at the menu. Oatmeal = Porridge. Haha all my life I’ve wanted to have porridge. Ever since I heard the story of Goldie Locks and those bears and how she ate baby bear’s porridge. It was the perfect thing to break the fast.

While we’re eating we decide that we’ll have a very nice, slow, and relaxing day. Since the school is closed and all letting agencies aren’t open till Monday, there’s nothing else to do but actually enjoy Scotland for the first time. Just this idea in my mind was such a relief. It really takes a toll on the body to worry so much. Stress so much. For the first time, we looked at our map and pointed to where we’d actually like to go. Not to where we had to go.

We walk along Bruntsfield for a little while and come across this beautiful little park. It’s made up of these little trees along the perimeter and just green hills in the center. It was pretty full of couples and friends. Some were laying down together talking. A group of four guys had their guitars out and were singing some noticeably Scottish tunes. Two friends were drinking, smoking, belching, and laughing right next to us. It was pretty funny. Across the park two little girls walking a dog passed by a group of little boys and the boys did what we do best. They made fun of the pretty girls trying to be mean, but I’m sure they just wanted to look cool. There are bee’s (a kind I’ve never seen before) hovering all over the grass, they came in to say hi a few times but once you mark your territory they move away. Seagulls are flying all over the place. One guy was holding up some food in his hand trying to get their attention. A seagull took a nosedive at like 50 mph, but changed his mind at the last second. Lucky guy probably would’ve gotten his hand snatched too…crazy person.

We take a few pictures and have a good time, and then we leave to go have lunch at the Baguette Shop. I’ve never had a baguette before. I wish I got one. I got a panini instead. It was supposed to be with Mexican Chicken. I asked the woman if she had anything spicy and the first thing she said was “Oh, yeah, Mexican chicken!” It was about as spicy as a Tootsie Roll. Really good though.

It’s about 2:00 now and Angela and I, being old farts, decide it’s time for our afternoon nap. Why does all the sleeping make you sleepy? Who knows. We walk into the B&B and are pleasantly surprised with what we see. The three little munchkins that live there are no taller than my knees. The two boys are older and then there’s the baby girl. These are the monsters that we can here screaming “But, mommy, I don’t want to go to school! Where’s daddy?!” at eight in the morning. They’re so cute man.

So remember Lorna, the shower lady? She’s there too. With a big smile on her face she walks up to us. I mean…big smile.

“Hey guys! So, I noticed you booked 5 more days with us!?”

“Yeah we did. We kinda had too. The flat search really isn’t going too well. Everything is taken. We have some lined up for next week, but who knows when we’re going to get one.” We tell her with a pretty sad tone.

She replies “ Oh, that’s a shame. Yeah, it’s real hard this time of year, with all the students and all. I think I might have something to help you out though. We rent out a flat not too far from here. It’s not a long-term stay flat, but it’s a guaranteed place to live until you find one. It’ll be cheaper then continuing to book this place. What do you think?”

In my head I’m thinking “No way. Two days ago you were Count Dracula, and now you’re giving us a place to say?”

It took Angela and I about a second to tell her we’ll take it.

We walk to our room, Glenfiddich, and do a little celebration dance when we get in. It feels great to know that at least we can have a solid temporary place until we find a permanent one. This was icing on the cake. Although…we don’t really have a cake yet, more like a cookie crumb. Still, it was icing.

Earlier today we had stopped by the Merchiston Campus of Edinburgh Napier University and stole some wifi. We saw on the map that this little movie theatre, Dominion Cinema, was near and we wanted to check it out. Online the movie times for “The Time Travelers Wife” were for 6:30 and 8:50. Sweet, take a little 2-hour nap, wake up, and go see the soft side of Eric Bana.

We should’ve expected it. The alarm was no match for Angela’s snoring. We…or should I say I woke up at 8. I tried and tried and tried to wake Ms. Angela up, but she wouldn’t budge. Haha she actually got a little mad at me and told me to “buggar off!” No, she didn’t…might as well though. So I throw on a little dvd I like to call “How to lose a guy in 10 days” and have myself a party.

A wee bit later at about 2 in the morning Angela decides to wake up. And you know, if someone next to you gets out of the bed, it’s going to wake you up too! All wide-eyed and perky she turns to me and goes “Let’s watch Chocolate!” Automatically, I think of the movie “I love you, Man” and bust out laughing. We finally went to sleep at 4 in the morning.

A New Day

September 11, 2009

It’s 7:45 in the morning. Angela and I wake up to a knock on the door. It’s Ross. Man he’s a nice guy.

“Here you go guys, here’s your breakfast. By the way, I fixed the shower for you. All you have to do is pull the chord to turn it on, and pick your preference. Don’t bother with the stop button, it isn’t working.” He says.

I figure his wife probably wants to kill me so I apologize for last night. He says “Don’t even worry about it, it’s okay.”

Sweet.

The continental breakfast in bed consists of a raspberry shake, muesli cereal with milk, warm croissants, butter, jelly, fresh ham, and new kind of cheeses that we’ve never seen before. It was going to be a good day.

After the best shower ever, we start on a little 5-minute walk to the Merchiston campus to see if I can register. Luckily, the professor I need to see is there and not busy so we head on upstairs to see him. His name is Les. He’s a little shorter than me, not skinny, but not chubby either (right in between), looks as though to be in his late 40’s lower 50’s, with long white and black hair to his shoulders. He hooks me up with registration, it takes about 10 minutes, and we’re on our way.

The plan for today was to get me registered in the morning, meet up with a lender to see a flat at 2:00, buy a phone somewhere in between, and get Angela registered somewhere in between. From talking to that kid Blair, we know that most of the phone companies in Edinburgh have shops in City Centre on Princes Street, so we figure it’s our next stop.

We buy an all day pass, get on (what we think and hope) is the right bus, and find a seat in the way back. We’re sitting next to these two young looking guys that are having a pretty in depth conversation about something. Don’t get me wrong, I love to eavesdrop, but I can’t understand a darn word their saying!

The way that streets are set up in Edinburgh is really confusing. First of all, we’re on the completely wrong side of the street. It’s a little nauseating at first to be taking all these turns into the left lane. Plus there are these things called turnarounds and geez…I get pretty dizzy. In the states I’m used to seeing colored street signs above my head with the lights right beside them wrapped in yellow. Nope. Here the lights are wrapped in black and on the street corners. And the street signs are nowhere to be found.

I come to the realization that we know where we want to go (Princes Street), but we have no idea of how to know when we’re there. I interrupt the guys next to us…

“Excuse me guys, I’m really sorry to bother you, but um…we’re pretty new to this so how do we know when we get to Princes Street?”

The gentleman next to me says “It’s alright mate. I’m getting of near there so just get off when I do.”

Awesomeness, this guy is an angel sent from the almighty heavens above!!!!!!!

The bus stops, the kid gets up and we follow him right on out. He turns to us outside and says “So you’re just going to follow this street here and turn right when you get to the end. Princes will be the street you see. You can’t miss it.”

I say “Man thanks so much we really appreciate it. By the way, how the heck do you know what street you’re on?? I mean in the states we have signs but…I don’t see any around?”

“Just look at the edge of the buildings a wee bit up, you’ll find ‘em there.”

We look up and there’s the stupid signs staring us right in the face. Haha who knew we’d take little green signs for granted one day.

Walking down Princes street is like walking on Broadway in New York city. It’s PACKED with people and shops. It’s a feeding frenzy down there. But, oh man, it’s so beautiful. It’s parallel to Edinburgh Castle that sits so peacefully on top of a hill and the surrounding architecture is in this old medieval style. Of course, there’s still green everywhere.

We find the Carphone Warehouse and buy the cheapest phones and plans we can find. While there, the guy helping us out (he reminded me of that kid Jesse in the first Fast and Furious movie, the one with A.D.D) told us exactly how to get to our flat, which was supposedly about a 10 minute walk away. We look at the clock and it’s 1:20. 40 minutes should be more than enough time, so we head out there.

We come across a little fork (or should I say Square) in the road called Charles Square. We turn right…but we don’t feel too good about it. Maybe we should’ve turned left. Ok. We turn around and start heading along that side of the square. Ehh…this doesn’t feel right either. We look at the map, turns out the yellow brick road is a little more complicated.

They are building a Tramway in City Centre, so there is crazy construction everywhere. Because of this, like half of Princes street is closed. We now have 30 minutes. We make our way through construction, but have a hard time because you have to be perpendicular to a building to know what street it is. Running out of time, we Usain Bolt our way through traffic and streets and barely make it with 2 minutes to spare to our flat appointment.

The flat wasn’t too great at all. It was in a “nice” neighborhood I guess. There was graffiti on all the buildings and inside of ours. Construction is going on across the street. The flat was a good size, and had everything we wanted, but reminded me of a broken down place you see in movies where a starving actress is staying in New York while she’s waiting tables and trying to make it big. Then the guy tells us “By the way, it’ll be available the 27^th.”

“Oh…okay…welp, see you later.” Haha we just take off, pretty disappointed.

It’s now 2:30 and we’re kind of running out of time to find a flat. Tomorrow is our last day in the B&B so if we can’t do it by then…we’re SOL. We stop into this lending company place and start making all sorts of calls to everyone, everywhere that’s selling a flat.

“No, sorry it’s just been let.” “Oh sorry, the owner backed out just now.” “My apologies, that flat is no longer available.” “Ohhh it just got rented, really sorry about that.” “The office is closed, please leave a message and we’ll get back to you after the weekend.” “No students allowed, sorry.” “It won’t be available till the 20^th.”

Call after call, and sweet female accent after sweet female accent, we were denied. We learned at that moment that all…ALL lending companies operate during the week and are closed on weekends. It’s Friday. The end of the week. Our B&B time runs out on Sunday. Tomorrow’s Saturday, and there’s officially nothing we can do at this point. Tired, hungry, and a wrong bus later (we went pretty far north, and we live pretty far south ha) we return to our room. We extended our stay in the B&B till next Thursday which, surprisingly, was actually really cheap to do.

It’s close to 5:00 now and I’m starving and could probably slay a baby calf by chewing it to death, but we’re more tired than hungry. Feeling pretty defeated from the day, and with only breakfast in our stomachs, we give each other a little foot massage (I could’ve died at that moment) and try to take a little nap. Jet lag. Ended up being the longest nap of my life. We woke up the next morning at about 6:00 am.

First Impressions

September 10, 2009

Family, its been so long and I'm so sorry for not getting a chance to contact you guys! I'm not going to lie...I thought we were going to arrive and see this beautiful country, and be welcomed with opened arms and just completely fall in love with it. But, sadly, this hasn't entirely been the case...

We arrived here at about 7 in the morning thursday morning. Our flight out of New Jersey into Edinburgh was about 6 hours long (after 2 other flights this one was seriously murder). It was the most turbulent flight I've ever been on...I really thought we were going to die haha. The best part was, luckily, this really smug looking handsome kid was sitting next to Angela and I, and so I thought I'd spark up some conversation. He ended up being the first Scottish person that we'd meet. His name is Blair, and Hes 19 years old and full of really helpful advice and a good sense of humor. He's a great kid and really helped us out a lot.

After 6 hours and the Angels and Demons movie, we arrived in beautiful Edinburgh. It was seriously a sight I'll never forget. I almost cried (mainly because I was so glad to be on the ground). Our luggage, thankfully, arrived safe and untouched. Blair had told us that it would be best (and cheapest) to take the bus into to City Center (Princes Street) and from there catch a cab to our B&B (which is only like 6 minutes away). We figured "easy enough". So we buy a map and get on our way. We find the bus we're supposed to get on and head towards it with our luggage (which we both have on these luggage cart things). It's our turn to get on, the bus door opens and we're welcomed with these words "Don't you know you're not supposed to bring the cart in line!? You better not hit my bus!" I ask the "nice" gentleman where I put my luggage and he says "Well inside of course!" At this point I realize we, combined, have 6 bags that weigh a total of about 200 lbs and a line full of people behind us. To make a long story short, no one helped us out. Everyone got on the bus and didn't wait for us to get our luggage on. Angela ended up accidentally hitting the bus and the nice man yelled at her. It wasn't the traditional "open arms" welcoming we had hoped for.

So tired, hungry, and pretty upset now, we head towards City Centre. The sights are so beautiful that we can't help to calm down and Thank God that at least we're finally here and it's going to be great. The bus stops, and while we're getting off the driver seems to be really cheerful and talkative to us (as if nothing happened). So that makes us feel better. We get a cab. The driver was this really nice, funny guy that kind of reminds me of Harry Potters uncle in the movie (tall, chubby, mustache...). He takes us right to the B&B.

The neighborhoods are seriously unlike anything I've every seen in real life. They look familiar only because in movies set in like old english times do you see stuff like this. Their front yard walls aren't made of rock, their tall shrubs. There's green EVERYWHERE. Seagulls instead of pigeons. All the cars are really nice...no old, beat up, pick up trucks in sight.

We get inside the B&B and are greeted by this really nice girl named Timy. The B&B is owned and run by a family made up of parents and 3 little kids (all under like 7 I think). Timy has some really good news. "Oh no, you all are a little early." We say what do you mean? She says "Well, check out time is at 930, but check it time is at 400 pm". It just so happens to be 930. So she manages to get our key and advises us to be back around 4:00 and our room will be ready. Angela and I just try to look on the bright side and figure we can get a lot done in about 6 hours so maybe this is a blessing in disguise. So we take a look at our map, and start walking towards the campus.

Now I don't know if you all noticed, but when we left Angela and I weren't exactly in the kind of shape you need to be to run a marathon. Well, we definitely felt it walking in the hills of Scotland. The only thing that made up for the blistering feet, burning legs, aching back, and loss of breath was the absolutely amazing scenery. We were saying that the closest thing that compares to a place like this is Ruidoso, but the gap is still very far between. So about 2 miles and an entire golf course later, we arrive to the campus we're supposed to be at, Craiglockhart.

There's hundreds of students around, all really cool looking, and loud music because it was "Freshers" Week. Angela and I get really excited because we finally feel like we've reached a place where we'll fit in. We step inside the building and, of course, have no idea where to go. We're led outside of the International Students office and greeted by Scottish girl that was probably having a really bad day. Rude. Finally we meet the lady and man we've been talking to in emails all year long, Claire and Slawek. Both of them are GREAT people. I mean great. Nice to the max. Like, I want to be their best friend nice. haha We're sitting in the office, taking care of business, and it hits us. It's noon now, and we're crashing like there's no tomorrow. Angela turns to me and says "Are you dizzy and light-headed, and does it feel like you're moving right now?" and I go "Yep". But, of course it being our luck, we're advised to go see our Academic Advisors so we can register for school. Completely disoriented, we decide to move forward because we know we should...also, remember we kind of don't have anywhere else to go.

We take Lothian Bus 23 to the Craighouse Campus in order to get Angela advised and set up. The plan was to go see this man for Angela, then go a hop and skip to Merchiston Campus for my advisor. And while we were there at Merchiston we'd take care of our registration and be good to go (as far as school goes). We get of the bus at Craigouse,and we both feel like dying. It's close to 1:00 now, and from the waist down it's just pain. Plus, we have NO IDEA where to go for food. We get to the building and Angela is told that Mr. Ted Finch will be right with her. So we waited downstairs a little bit. A little bit turned into half an hour. Half an hour turned into one. One turned into two. Two turned into three. Angela and I wake up in the lobby and decide to just go back to the B&B.

It's almost 5:00, and all the kids are getting out of school. They just wander the streets in their little uniforms and accents. It's really the cutest thing to see. Even though we're starving, we just plop on the bed and knock out.

We open our eyes and it's dark in the room. We check the phone and it's almost 10:00. We're still tired, but we're more hungry. There's a horrible stench in the room. It's as much Angela as it is me (more me though). So we decide to take our first shower in 2 days. I walk into the bathroom and see a sink, toilet, shower, and string hanging from the ceiling. I open the shower, and it's easy as pie. The buttons read "high, medium, low, and stop...and there's a dial for the heat". It's not rocket science, so I press high. Nothing happens. I press Medium. Nothing happens. Low. Nothing. Stop. Nothing. Turn dial. Nothing. I repeat this process, oh about, 20 times. I think it was just too long of a day to realize that I didn't know how to work a Scottish shower. Then, I see the string.

It was a suspicious looking string, dangling from a box in the ceiling like that. As if it had some kind of purpose. Stupid string. So, me being the all adventures, I tug it. Nothing. I tug it harder. Nothing. I tug that damn thing really hard, like really hard. Nothing. haha I give it one more try and I pull it so hard that there was a click. Holy crap...I broke something. The light on the shower controller went from on to off. I walk downstairs to talk to the owner and ask her whats up with the shower. "Hello" I say to a barely cracked open door. I can hear a T.V. A man and women start "whispering arguing" about who should open the door and talk to me (haha as if I can't hear them). The women swings the door open, in all her sleepy pajama glory and says "what do you want". "I'm sorry to bother you ma'am, but I'm from the U.S. staying in one of your rooms and I'd like to take a shower, but I really have no idea how to work it. Can you help me or something? I'm really sorry." She looks back at someone, then at me and says "are you serious". At this point I'm just frozen. I thought that the poor, helpless, good-looking, American card would work for me, but I was wrong. The man comes and flies to my rescue with a big ol' smile on his face and says "Don't worry about it I'll get it for you". The woman looked relieved.

We climb upstairs, hop into the restroom, and he says. "Oh here's your problem mate..." he tugs the string like nothing. It clicks. The light on the controller turns on. "It was off" he says. So just to make sure, I say "Oh okay than thanks a lot sir. So I just press the button and the shower will turn on?" He says "yeah, just pick your preference, high or low, and you'll be fine." Tell him thanks so much. He leaves. I get naked wearing nothing but a smile on my face and step into the shower. High. Nothing. Medium. Nothing. Low. Nothing. Dial. Nothing. Stop. Nothing. Crap.....

I put on my clothes and walk to the room. Angela asks me what happened, I tell her, and we walk to the restroom. Maybe it needed a woman's touch. Nope. I walk downstairs to go ask someone again. The man is no longer there. "Hello?" I say. I hear huffing and puffing. The woman appears, looking mad as hell. "Its 10 o clock in the night and I'm really tired what the hell do you want" (I'm really not kidding this is what she said). Scared, I tell her "look I'm really sorry but I really just can't figure out the shower!" She says, "Didn't Ross show you how to work it?!?!?!" I say "Yeah he did and I'm sorry but it still isn't working I don't know!" She storms upstairs and into the bathroom...me walking like a little puppy dog with my tail in between my legs behind her (about to cry). She looks at it, presses all the buttons, pulls the chord twice, presses all the buttons and says. "Someone has totally broken it" and she looks at me. She says" somebody jammed in the stop button so it won't work, did YOU do this?!?!" I tell her "no ma'am, I promise you i just tried to press all the buttons and that one was already like that" (it really was like that, but I just thought that was how it was supposed to be). She starts apologizing like crazy and asks me if I can do without a shower tonight. I tell her of course and she says goodnight.

Angela and I decide to get ready anyways and walk towards a busy street to find some food. Its now 11:00.

We pass by some little businesses, a bar, and this nice little place with a young man and old man working it and decide to go in. These guys were pure gentleman, really nice. We order a large pizza with pepperonis and peppers and are told that it'll be ready in about 10 minutes. "Cool" we think and sit down on some benches inside.

Just then, a short and stalky little man stumbles in reeking with alcohol. This man had like Danny Devito's body, with a little more muscle. He comes up, introduces himself, Ernie, asks Angela is she's Japanese, and just starts spitting out all kinds of jibberish. We make it very clear that we're doing fine without his company, so he leaves and tries to order something from the nice older gentleman. About a minute into his order, he calls the nice man bald. Ernie is drunker than drunk. The older man calls Ernie an idiot and tells him to get lost and go home to his bed. After a few bad exchanging of words between them, Ernie straight up tells this nice man "Fu** you". At this point the nice man is pretty upset. The store closes at midnight. The nice man says "why don't you come back after midnight and we'll talk then." Ernie doesn't leave, he just keeps on trying to start a fight. Angela and I are sitting, no lie, about 4 feet away from all this. My fists are clenched. The day has been way too long for some short, fat, stupid, drunk, little scottish man to try to mess with Angela or I. I decide that if this guy tries to touch either one of us, I'll kill him. Really, as bad as it sounds, I would've torn this guy apart. Well, some sensible, bigger guys pull Ernie outside and start arguing with him, asking him why he would be so rude to such a nice guy. The younger kid tells us our pizza is ready and says "You know, I'm really sorry about all that. I promise that NEVER happens. You all are actually pretty lucky to see this because really, it never happens. I'm really sorry though and please do come back." Man, these two guys were so nice. So we leave in a hurry, in fear of our lives, and speed walk like Billy Crystal all the way home. We get into the room, shed a few tears because it's been the worst day in the history of days since the beginning of time, eat a pizza, drink water and a sprite, watch "Love Actually" and fall asleep.

This was only our first day in Scotland.

Well, if you've read this far I congratulate you because this is, by far, the biggest piece of ramble and crap that I've ever written in my life! We love you all so much and we're doing okay now. Although it's really hard, we believe that we can still make it here and that it's only going to get better. At least we have each other. We had to extend our stay at the B&B until next thursday because finding a flat over here is like a meteorologist in El Paso predicting the weather. Impossible. But other than that, we're okay. School starts on Monday and even though we might miss a few classes because we still aren't registered, finding a place to live is #1 on our list right now. Thank you so much for all your prayers and thoughts because God knows we need them. We love you all and are really, really missing home right now. Miss you and talk to you soon!!!!

Cheers,

Angela and Dan